Introductory Activity :

Duration: 2 fifty minute sessions---(second day is discussed here, first day, an educational video dealing with archaeology is shown)

Description: Students will learn about archaeological methods and conduct their own dig using shoe boxes, sand and an action figure or toy.

Goals: Students will discover how scientific methods are useful in discovering information about the past, and how careful observation is necessary for these conclusions to be accurate.

Introduction:

Ask students to recall the video viewed in part one of the lesson dealing with archaeology and archaeological excavation methods.
Have students access the internet site, http://www.pa.net/wpsd/wpms/dig/, which shows pictures of artifacts and of an actual dig in progress.
Ask students how this dig compares with those in the video.
Tell the students that they will be using the information from the video and web site to perform their own archaeological excavation.

Body :

Pair students off for this activity using any method. Have students collect their materials brought from home and come up in small groups to fill their shoe boxes with a sufficient amount of sand. Instruct the students to bury their action figures in the sand in various positions and to cover them almost completely with the remaining sand. Pass out graph paper to each student.
Have students switch ?dig boxes? with their partners, and excavate the action figure in a meticulous manner. Describe to the students how to record the location of the ?body? on their graph paper, and how this information will be used to complete an essay describing their excavation and what they believe was the situation surrounding the ?death? of the individual.
Upon completion of the excavation activity, assemble the class together and discuss the concept of Carbon dating. Hit upon these points:
All living things contain a constant amount of Carbon 14 throughout their lives. When they die, the Carbon 14 begins to break down at a fixed rate.
Describe Carbon 14 as type of carbon that breaks down in a set pattern over a period of time. Use example of apples cut at different times. How brown the apples are indicates the time period since it was cut much like the amount of carbon 14 indicates the age of the ?bodies?.
Ask students how this information could possibly help in archaeological research.

Conclusion Activity :

Have the class discuss their ?digs? as a group. Ask several student volunteers to describe their excavations and what their theories are concerning how their body got into its current location. Tell students that their assignment is to write an imaginative story describing how their body came to rest where it did, and the situation surrounding it.

Evaluation Activity :

Assessment will be based on completion of the site map and creativity in the story exercise and participation in both the excavation activity and story exercise.

Internet Resources Referenced in this Lesson :

West Perry Archaeological Site